Longtime former Juneau resident Valeri Vincent "Larry" Trambitas died Dec. 30, 2000, at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif.:

He was 79.
He was born June 22, 1921, to Valeri and Elizabeth Finley Trambitas in Portland, Ore.
He came to Juneau as a boy with his family in 1935. His first job was selling newspapers for the Juneau Empire. During the depression years he also worked as a professional boxer and as a laborer in the Alaska Juneau Gold Mine.
He joined the Army before World War II and served with honor. After his discharge he returned to Juneau and worked as a mate on a boat. When World War II erupted he rejoined the Army, serving in the Aleutians and that part of India that is now Pakistan. He was assigned to the force scheduled for the invasion of Japan when the war ended.
After the war he fished commercially, saving to invest in a business. He went on to own and operate several movie theaters. He eventually left the theater business and returned to a career in fishing, and fished commercially out of Juneau aboard his vessel The Ivory Gull.
His family wrote that he never lost his love for Alaska, that he always had a twinkle in his eye, was ready with a quick joke and had a heart of gold. He was a lifetime member of the Juneau chapters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and The Elks Club, and the service organizations Variety Club International, People Helping People and The City of Hope.
He is survived by his wife Vesta, his brother Jack of Juneau, daughter Galene Axelson of Oregon, son Larry of Washington, stepson C.R. "Bud" Marsh of California, and stepdaughter Kathleen Voorhees of Washington, nine grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
The family asks that remembrances be made as donations to Eisenhower Hospice, 42-201 Beacon Hill, Suite B, Palm Desert, CA, 92211.